AN: Welcome back! First off, I would like to ask a few things: do you guys think i should use an OC char or original chars for Naruto's future sensei? What about the story, how can it be improved? Any major gripes about ANYTHING? Point it out and i'll try to improve. Read and Review!
See you after the jump!
-NEXT MORNING-
An unfamiliar smell wafted into his nostrils, pulling him from his sleep. Naruto became acutely aware that he was hugging something soft and warm, and for a moment decided to throw caution to the wind and partake in this heaven. He was practically swimming in the softness, even taking it in both his hands and squeezing...
A muffled yelp greeted him.
With reflexes born from so many years of waking up to violence, Naruto jumped up, ready to run at the first sign of danger. Unfortunately for him, he had not healed completely from the ordeal of the previous day, and promptly lost balance, tumbling to the floor.
Finally realising he was not about to get mauled by some angry mob, he looked up and saw a young, brown-haired girl rubbing her eyes sleepily. The memories of the previous night came to him, and he recognised her as the girl who had brought him food in his time of dire need, thus saving him.
'Ayame... that was her name was it? Well I should be grateful to her... HOLY SHIT WAS I JUST CUDDLING WITH HER!', thought Naruto.
"Ah... Good morning Naruto-kun. Did you have a good night's rest? What's wrong? Why do you look like that?", Ayame said sweetly, looking at him in askance.
"No-nothing! I just have to go to the toilet! Never mind me!", blustered Naruto, Immediately running out of the bedroom... Ayame's bedroom...
Finding the toilet wasn't difficult - it was an apartment that, though small, seemed homely enough to Naruto's liking. Heck, to even have a place to stay was better than Naruto ever got. Briefly wondering why Ayame extended her hospitality so readily to him, one who was shunned by any and all, Naruto's nose soon caught a whiff of the aroma that had awoken him.
The night before, Ayame had helped Naruto into the house she and her father shared, quickly whipping up some food for him. On the verge of death, Naruto simply gorged himself, not bothering to even see what he was eating. Later, Ayame told him it was something called 'ramen' - apparently she and her father owned a ramen stand called 'Ichiraku's Ramen'. He also recalled how afraid Ayame was. She had requested him to watch over her while she slept, as the only way she would feel safe was in the presence of her 'saviour'.
'No doubt that accounted for why Ayame and I were cuddling each other', Naruto mused.
"Naruto-kun! I made breakfast! Hope you don't mind ramen again...", Ayame told him as he walked out of the bathroom.
"mmmmm... that smells great... exactly like how you smell", salivated Naruto, ready to dig into his food, earning a blush and a stuttered "T-thank you" from Ayame.
"Itadakimasu!", they chorused, slurping up their noodles greedily.
"Man, this stuff is great! Truly the food of the gods.. hehe", Naruto praised, "I know you must feel uncomfortable with me staying here; I'll leave after my meal, thank you for your hospitality."
"Naruto-kun, I still cannot thank you enough for saving my father and I last night. You can make yourself at home... anything we have is yours!", proclaimed Ayame.
This proposal surprised Naruto, who was not even expecting gratitude from the family he had saved. After all, all he ever got from others were angry beatings or death threats. Such kindness was alien to Naruto, who, although believing that he must do his best to protect anyone in danger, developed a strong distrust of seemingly kind people. Many people had come to him under the guise of kindness, one moment offering him safe haven, the next trying to murder him. Although he disbelieved the fact that a child, like him, like Ayame would knowingly hurt him without reason, he still harboured his suspicions. After all, he was guided by principle, and had promised himself to save those victimised as he had been, but always believed he would never get the love he wanted, even if it were what he wished.
Standing up suddenly, Naruto questioned Ayame, "You are not doing this to try to hurt me are you? No one in my life has ever remotely helped me... did you poison my food to kill me? Others have done this... poison does not work on me!"
Startled by his sudden outburst, Ayame said confusedly, " No! I would never... you are my family's saviour, my saviour! I meant every word I said!"
"You truly want me to believe that? I understand that you might want to at the very least give me some food, but to want to associate with a 'demon' like me? Even going so far as to offer me everything you have?", snarled Naruto, "Since I can remember, people kicked me, threw rocks at me, even going so far as to almost kill me!"
Despite Ayame's objections, Naruto showed no signs of stopping, "Do you know what it's like to be hated so much that people believe you are a 'taint on humanity'? I'm just a six-year old kid, but my life is pure hell! I've been forced to learn to survive out there among the wolves, forced to grow up!" At this, tears could be seen welling up in Naruto's eyes.
Now sobbing profusely, Naruto muttered to a wide-eyed Ayame, "And yet... and yet all I ever want is to be acknowledged... to be treated like a human... to save people... sob... to learn what it is like to be loved... sob... don't you think it's too cruel to trick, to lie to me?"
Ayame slowly walked to Naruto's side, comforting him, saying, "Naruto, I am truly sorry for what you have been through, but I am not lying, and I believe you know i am not. It's okay to cry... let it all out."
They stayed there like this, Ayame's hand on Naruto's shoulder, allowing him to pour his sorrows out. Ayame felt sadness and pity for her saviour, but angry at the life he had been forced to lead. She had no idea why people hated him so much, but knew that he would never do anything to hurt anybody - he was too good of a boy. Finally, Naruto's wracking sobs subsided, and he stated, "I cannot stay here. People will see you trying to help me, and treat you the same. I will leave, but I thank you... for everything. You should go visit your father in the hospital."
"No, don't go...", Ayame pleaded, "I don't care that people will treat us the same, I know you, even though it has only been for one night, and you do not deserve it..."
'But I do deserve it... I have a demon-fox inside of me, one that could take control of me and kill everyone... Ayame is now my friend, and she means the world to me. I will never forget her... I will protect her at all costs', thought Naruto.
"Ayame, I will only serve to bring you down, so i must leave. But you are my friend, now and forever; I will never forget you... I promise", said Naruto, walking toward the entrance to the apartment.
"Wait, Naruto-kun! Take this... It's my mother's pendant. Whenever you see this, think of me... a-and never give up!", said Ayame, running to Naruto's side. Taking off the jade necklace she wore around her neck, she then put it around Naruto's neck, giving him a soft kiss, earning a blush from the blonde.
"Naruto-kun... I'm afraid. Please come back soon... to protect me again", Ayame said, eyes brimming with tears. Even though Ayame had only known him one night, she felt as though she had known him her entire seven years of life. The two children had been born into an unforgiving world filled with violence, both had been forced to mature beyond their years. The similarities in their lives caused their feelings to blossom into an unbreakable bond in the short time they had spent together.
"Thank you Ayame-chan", Naruto whispered, before exiting hastily.
One hour later...
Ambling around aimlessly, Naruto found himself at the Hokage Monument that overlooked the village of Konoha. The monument consisted of the faces of the four legendary Hokages of the Hidden Leaf Village carved into the side of the granite mountain. No matter how many times he saw it, Naruto felt inspired by the faces of Konoha's greatest. He knew that the Hokage was the strongest ninja in the village, the one who protected everyone with his power. More importantly, he was the one that everybody looked up to and respected, and that was what Naruto wanted: to be acknowledged. Why the village had devolved into such chaos Naruto did not know, but he was damn sure going to fix it one day.
Naruto ran up to the summit of the monument, not even pausing for breath, finding his seat on top of the Yondaime Hokage's stone face. It was his favourite place to sleep in the whole village, because it was always so peaceful and quiet, a contrast from the violence that seemed to pervade Konoha. Some day, Naruto promised, he would become Hokage and save this village from violence. Some day...
As the morning turned to afternoon, Naruto had a clear view of the entire village. As he watched from above, he decided he was going to become strong. Strong enough to protect his friends, strong enough to persuade people to stop the violence. Naruto hated violence, hated how it warped people, clouded their mind, and made them do unspeakable things.
The rest of the day passed with Naruto making many more promises; such was the naivete of the blonde child. He truly believed that people, even the most wicked and evil, could be persuaded to see good and to stop living for their own ends. Deciding all this promise-making would be useless if they were forgotten or broken, Naruto tried to find a way to remember it. Realising he was lacking any writing materials nor the knowledge needed to to use it, he went into deep thought, trying to find a solution to his predicament.
The blonde was illiterate, a result of the neglect shown by his fellow villagers. Sure, his mind was sharp, his will strong, and if anything, he was resourceful; these things Naruto was born with. However, when he became faced with the inability to express, and in a sense legitimise to himself, his promises, he was stumped.
But he had vowed never to give up.
In a moment of inspiration, Naruto took his thumb and scraped it on the sharp edges of the granite rock he was sitting on, trying his best to squeeze the most blood out. Using his blood as ink, the blonde started forward to the forehead of the Yondaime's stone face, beginning to crudely sketch the Konoha Leaf Symbol. His blood would symbolise his commitment to his cause, nothing more was needed.
For as long as Konoha still stood, Naruto would protect it, and more importantly his friend, Ayame. For as long as Konoha wallowed in the clutches of vice, Naruto would work toward saving it. He would stand as tall as the forest trees, an immovable object that never gave up.
Happy with his handiwork, Naruto laughed. He was happy, and he would show that happiness to all. He would show those that tried to kill him how wrong they were. About him being a demon that lived only to destroy. About how shinobi were supposed to be cold and ruthless. About how he did not deserve to live.
All that mattered now was to get strong.
At this moment in time, Naruto had nothing, and as far as anybody was concerned, was nothing. On a whim, Naruto decided to leave the village to find a suitable sensei to train him in the shinobi arts. Immediately, he headed toward the village gates that was located in the distance.
-At that moment at the Hokage building-
Hiruzen Sarutobi, more commonly known as the Third Hokage, sat brooding in his office. He was at the mercy of the Council. Damn bastards had put him under house arrest, forbidding him from leaving the confines of the prominent Hokage building. He essentially lived out his life inside the office, even sleeping and eating in it. Occasionally he might go to the toilet, and even then he was followed closely by ANBU guards. Sighing, the Hokage wished that he regained even a minute bit of his power so that he could destroy each and every one of the council members that had so imprisoned him. Unfortunately, powerful seals made by the Konoha Fuinjutsu masters effectively suppressed chakra use in the Hokage building, leaving the Hokage a powerless and frail old man. Had he been younger, he would try to break out based on brute strength alone, but the older, wiser (and perhaps more cowardly) Sarutobi knew that he would be swiftly cut down before he reached the entrance.
The Hokage knew exactly what was going on outside. He had his ways, plus the window that granted him unrestricted view of Konoha allowed him to silently observe various crimes and transgressions that went unpunished. The Hokage building was the tallest in Konoha, and where once it stood as the bastion for the village's greatest protector, it was now the jail for a puppet.
Sarutobi already had plans to revive Konoha after he escaped from his confinements, but the hard part was actually escaping. Many times he had contemplated suicide, but he had refused to take his life, believing it to simply mean he had surrendered.
The old man never admitted defeat.
Sure, he might be overpowered sometimes, but in the end he would win the war, or so he hoped. The Hokage decided the first thing he would do when he got out would be to find out how one Uzumaki Naruto had died, and laud him as a hero (he was sure at this point that Naruto must have died - no child could survive alone in Konoha, particularly not one so hated). Then, he would rally those few ninja loyal to him, and begin purging the village of its evil. Last he knew, Hyuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, Inuzuka Tsume, and various other former clan heads were similarly put under house arrest for supporting Sarutobi, but that was years ago. Most, if not all, could be dead.
The new clan heads were selfish, ridiculously so, and they expanded their influence, raising private armies, even waging personal wars for their own benefit. All in all, Konoha was a battlefield. The only safe places were the clan districts, the marketplace, and the cemeteries, and these were heavily guarded to ensure security. The rest of the village, from the Red Light District to the Gang Territories were cordoned off, with the entrances being guarded vigilantly by clan and ANBU ninja. The clans seemed to have come to the consensus that bloodshed was distasteful, and so set aside a part of Konoha to settle disputes through conflicts while the leaders sat in the safety of their pretty homes lazing around.
The Third Hokage could not understand how the warring clans could be so selfish. Because they refuse to get their own hands dirty, they lock themselves in private sanctuaries, content in allowing those desperate enough in the cordoned off vicinities to fight for the clan's gain. Each clan ran a gang in those territories, and these fought for supremacy with other clan-run gangs. Those that fought well enough for their chosen clan's glory would be rewarded with a safe place to live within the Clan Districts, thus ensuring a constant influx of willing fighters.
'If such barbarism continues, Konoha, the village built by our forefathers, will be destroyed. I cannot let this happen', Sarutobi mused.
For now, he would wait and brood, and occasionally pout petulantly.
AN: Ehy Naruto's first training starts next chapter.
